Getting fit when you're over 40

Family photos can tell the story of physical decline over time. Grandparents usually are noticeably thick in the middle, and seated because they depend on canes or walkers just to get around. They may rely on other people for basic needs, and their sedentary lives are a story of compounding health problems. Middle-aged members usually show signs of deconditioning also – two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese. Younger adults, teens and children stand upright, looking fresh faced, trim and full of vitality. They are seemingly oblivious to the inevitable march of time right in front of them.

So is physical decline over time a given fact of life? Hardly, but it takes work, planning and, probably, belief in yourself.

Indeed, a great body of research has emerged that suggests a decline in health and fitness is more a function of lifestyle and social convention than biology.

In fact, it’s possible to improve health – even build muscle and bone density, at any age – including up to and over the age of 90. Groundbreaking research under the direction Dr. Maria Fiatarone Singh, professor of Medicine and Sports Science at the University of Sydney (formerly of Tufts University) has found that elderly people, even the 90-plus, can develop muscle and increase bone density through weight-resistance training.

In the same vein, the March 26, 2007 issue of Newsweek magazine, in collaboration with Harvard Medical School, compiled much of this research in its cover story, ”Health for Life: Exercise and the Brain.” Some findings:

• Adults gain up to two hours of life expectancy for every hour of regular, vigorous exercise.

• Exercise keeps arteries flexible and free of plaque, effectively lowering blood pressure and preventing dangerous blood clots.

• Aerobic exercise releases mood-lifting hormones that promote a sense of wellbeing and reduced stress.

• Studies of women undergoing treatment for breast cancer found that moderate activity cut rates of recurrence and death in half.

So if you thought you could or should quit going to the gym after reaching 40, guess again.

Barriers and how to smash through them

Knowing what you need to do and actually doing it are two different things. That’s why anyone at any age – those over 40, in particular – should approach the renewal of your physical conditioning with a plan. As a fitness trainer working with older adults in exercise research (in addition to 20-somethings half my age who take my twice-weekly stationery bike classes), I’ll share my perspective on this.

You’re up against several factors, which can be categorized as follows:

1. Lifestyle: Your family, career and even leisure pursuits leave little room for exercise.

2. Energy decline: At the end (or beginning, or middle) of everyday, you may not think you have the energy to exercise.

3. Social expectations: We can call this the “grown men don’t ride bicycles” problem.

4. Reluctance to make concrete changes: A funny thing about motivations is that while we all have different reasons for doing things, we have a common reluctance to make changes.

Let’s attack each of these barriers and smooth the way to a healthier future.

Lifestyle

If a person works in a sedentary job, rides in a motorized vehicle two or three hours a day getting to and from work, and then is too tired at night to do anything but eat and watch television, perhaps those are reasons that person is in physical decline. The sad thing is that adipose tissue – body fat – isn’t the only problem.

Along with excess weight comes muscle atrophy, bone density declines and problems related to circulation, heart health and even cognitive function.

You might be a person on this track. The problem might be that you don’t see any way in the world that you’re going to transform yourself into a fitness fanatic.

You don’t have to. Start by thinking of exercise as something other than what’s done in a gym. Physical functioning, as Nature intended. Exercise is parking the car further away from your destination than may seem rational. A workout includes housework and outdoor chores – ever notice soreness when you’ve helped move furniture or washed windows on the weekend? Short of injury, soreness is a sign your muscles got some building from use in the past 24-36 hours – for example, scrubbing something vigorously to clean it is quite similar to bench pressing weights from the muscle’s point of view.

Does family time mean sharing a television remote, dispatching one member to the kitchen to retrieve snacks and beverages? A walk around the block after dinner might sound cliché, but it can have a tremendous effect on aiding digestion. It might even kick in a new way to spend time in the evening. But if you just have to see something on television, try getting out of your chair and holding a squat position during the commercials. No moving, just squat and freeze. Or, stand up and sit down in your chair during the commercials, repeatedly, with no assistance from your arms and hands. Note how winded you are by the second or third advertisement. Do it for two weeks straight and you’ll make it to the fourth or fifth commercial. Keep at it.

After a month, ramp it up further by springing off the floor each time you rise up. Open the windows because you might start to sweat (that’s a good thing).

In any event, engage your family in the activity if you can. Clearly, everyone will benefit.

Energy decline

Of course you don’t have any energy. Ever since Edison invented the light bulb, we’ve been reducing our time spent sleeping doing other things – and feeling tired during our waking hours. We self medicate with caffeine, which is a temporary fix.

“A lot of times when people are fatigued the last thing they want to do is exercise,” says professor Patrick O’Connor, co-director of an exercise psychology laboratory at the University of Georgia. “But if you’re physically inactive and fatigued, being just a bit more active will help.”

O’Connor and his research colleagues reviewed 70 randomized and controlled studies on 6,807 adults found that exercise increased energy and reduced fatigue better than medications such as the narcolepsy drug modafinil. “More than 90 percent of the studies showed the same thing: Sedentary people who completed a regular exercise program reported improved fatigue compared to groups that did not exercise,” O’Connor said. “It’s a very consistent effect.”

Still, for many of us getting started on exercise is not unlike getting going at filing for taxes. My recommendation: walk before you run. Just start moving in the direction of the exercise you’re going to do and before you know it you pick up the pace. Sometimes, when I’m in a gym intending to lift weights but not feeling very strong, I’ll work small muscle groups first, such as the forearms, wrists and calves. Quite often, it’s an easy transition to larger muscle groups and a full, effective workout.

Social expectations

Marketers really play us. We’re sold beer and hamburgers and Hummers by thin/buff models. Hello? The disconnect is obvious, yet sheer repetition has eliminated all sense of ridiculousness.

Our society is fat because we eat and drink too much and don’t move enough. No mystery there. But in a consumer-driven world, expectations are that we drive, not walk or bike, that we ridicule vegetarianism, allow ourselves “little” daily indulgences, and have other people clean our houses and mow our lawns.

The distinction became clear to me many years ago when I saw a work colleague sitting in a taxi at a stoplight while I was on my bike (at the time, I was working in marketing communications). From his open window, he made some comment that I think was intended as an insult about social class relative to forms of transportation. Because my mother raised me better, I held back from pointing out his toothpick legs and sallow complexion.

And it was then that I realized fitness was the life I expected of myself – a strong part of my identity. Conforming to what others say and think plays no role in that.

Reluctance to make concrete changes

Research from the University of Minnesota on making dietary changes – no small part of the fitness equation – finds that women are motivated by appearance in seeking to manage their weight, even if they perceive themselves to be no more than five pounds overweight. Men arrive at this conclusion many more pounds into the problem. From what I’ve observed, a guy’s decision to eat better and exercise is usually triggered by a health diagnosis, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or becoming diabetic.

Change is hard, but change in this case is good. The American Council on Exercise, a leading fitness trainer certification organization, cites an academic stages-of-change model (Prochaska, DiClemente, and Norcross, 1991) on the phases a fitness seeker experiences:

Precontemplation: You are in denial. You are not intending to change anytime soon (that is, within six months). You are unaware of and/or denying the need for lifestyle change. You’re pessimistic, especially about your ability to change or the real benefits of becoming more active and modifying your diet.

Contemplation: You’re considering it. Weighing the costs, effort, treatment and time commitment, you mull over joining a fitness or weight-loss program in the near future. This stage is often characterized by ambivalence. You may remain in this stage for months or even years.

Preparation: You’ve made the first move. You’ve scheduled an appointment with a personal trainer, you’ve started to limit your consumption of junk food or you have joined a gym and are exercising periodically.

Action: You are changing your behavior. You’re going to your yoga class, walking regularly, planning meals and/or keeping a diet record. Unfortunately, during the action stage, you are at greatest risk for relapse.

Maintenance: You’ve done it. You have successfully sustained lifestyle modification. You continue to actively utilize methods to monitor and control your behavior. You may even be avoiding situations that would increase the probability of slips and relapse.

Which phase are you in? How can you get to the maintenance stage, even into your twilight years? Can you do it on your own, or will you need the support of family, friends or a professional trainer? Which online or printed materials might be a good resource for you? There is no lack of good, credible and usefule information.

Only you can determine these things. I suggest you look for a friend-in-a-taxi experience. Quietly adopt a certain smugness about doing what’s best for you – and then go out, do it and maintain it, the rest of your life.